1961 Topps SP Research

[parkerj33]

Hi Rich. Its Jim Parker from NY, not Craig Parker from OK (no relation).....but thanks for the confirmation!

[parkerj33]

Dave, you just snuck in another curveball quite slyly. So technically the first series in some years was really 110 (or 109) cards, not 88 as might be listed? or do the lists of series take this into account? I suppose we can never really know the ratio of cards produced in series 1 vs. series 2 or series N. That would only be known by the factory. All we can decipher from the A/B full sheet of a particular series is what the ratio of printing of one subject to another would be.

[moeson]

I recall that during the 60s, a series would be 88 cards like on the checklist but the packs would include 21 cards from the next series as a preview or teaser.

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by parkerj33

Dave, you just snuck in another curveball quite slyly. So technically the first series in some years was really 110 (or 109) cards, not 88 as might be listed? or do the lists of series take this into account? I suppose we can never really know the ratio of cards produced in series 1 vs. series 2 or series N. That would only be known by the factory. All we can decipher from the A/B full sheet of a particular series is what the ratio of printing of one subject to another would be.

The print run would be 110 but the series would be 88 in a common scenario.

[Kevvyg1026]

The one full slit shown in this thread has a pattern of: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, G where A is the row headed by Coot Veal, B headed by F Thomas, C by Turk Lown, D by Bauer, E by Aaron, etc.

The other partial panel shown in a post in this thread has Del Crandall (390) in the bottom row of a slit. Crandall is in the row headed by Bauer, so rows B, C, & D are at the bottom of slit 2.

There are also a few other miscuts that suggest that there are four rows (A, B, C, & D) printed 4x each across the two slits, with two rows (E, G) printed 3x each, and one row (F) printed 2x each. This gives 7 distinct rows and 24 rows of 11 cards each (total = 264 cards).

So, the SPs would be the cards in row F, headed by Barker. These are: 428, 423, 408, 421, 430, 417, 361, 371, 446, 402, and 436.

Of course, 361 is the checklist which was printed in series 4 as well, so it might not be classified as a SP. However, there is a variation of card #361 (yellow vs black printing, ad vs no ad), so perhaps the yellow print/ad version is a SP.

[jmoran19]

Well it's a big day in the 1960's uncut world.

With the sheet below I can confirm the 1961 5th series SP's (add Bob Taylor to the list as mentioned a few times above). The 5th series CL is also in that row but most likely printed with the 4th series too as Kevin mentioned.

In 25 years of collecting photos of uncut sheets this is the first time I personally have visual evidence of a 77 card series printed outside the 4 rows printed 3 times/3 rows printed 4 times model.

For the record the rows with Hank Aaron and Ken Boyer are the printed 3 times rows. Everything else is printed 4 times across the two half sheets.

John

[toppcat]

Looks like the same setup as the known 1967 high number slit:

A
B
C
D
E
A
F
G
B
C
D
E

[Kevvyg1026]

That slit which J Moran posted is of the format you describe (A, B, C, D, E, A, F, G, B, C, D, E) but the other slit is B, C, D, E, A, F, G, B, C, D, E, G.

So, rows A & G are printed 3x, rows B, C, D, E are printed 4x, and row F is only printed 2x.

[Kevvyg1026]

The SPs are in the Barker row (Barker, Neal, Mathewson, Cline, Mazeroski, Marichal, Skowron, Taylor, Larsen, & Maloney). The checklist, which appears in the same row, was also printed in series 4, so it might not be considered a SP. However, it appears as if the checklist printed in series 5 is the one with Topps in yellow and the ad for MVP cards, so that variation is definitely printed in smaller quantities than the checklist with Topps in black.